Beta-particle spectroscopy with active gamma-ray discrimination

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:5199507

Higginbotham, J F

A spectrometer was developed which was capable of measuring a beta-particle energy distribution while simultaneously (actively) rejecting the system's response to gamma rays. A two detector configuration was used, where the first detector was a thin, pancake type, gas-flow counter, positioned in front of the entrance window to a BC-400 plastic scintillator. The gas-flow counter was designed to be insensitive to gamma rays so that it could act as a sensor which would gate the spectrometer to accept only those pulses induced by beta-particle interactions in the scintillator. The gamma-ray rejection capability of the spectrometer was a linear function of gamma-ray energy. Various spectrometer design and response considerations were investigated to determine their effect on either the spectrometer's discrimination capabilities or on its ability to accurately measure the incident beta-particle energy distribution. The spectrometer was used to measure the energy distribution of the photoelectric and Compton recoil electrons which are produced by gamma ray interaction in thin metal foils. In addition, the energy distributions of each component of a radiation field consisting of beta particles and gamma rays were measured for several radiation sources.

• Research Organization: Kansas State Univ., Manhattan, KS (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5199507
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

440103* -- Radiation Instrumentation-- Nuclear Spectroscopic Instrumentation
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ANGULAR DISTRIBUTION
BETA SPECTROMETERS
DESIGN
DISTRIBUTION
ENERGY DEPENDENCE
ENERGY SPECTRA
FUNCTIONS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
PARTICLE DISCRIMINATION
PARTICLE IDENTIFICATION
PERFORMANCE
RESPONSE FUNCTIONS
SPECTRA
SPECTROMETERS